It is fair to say that Countess of Wessex could not refuse the gift. The refusal to take a present or presents could have been viewed as a disrespect and/or a political stance on the current situation in Bahrain.[/I]

I agree; the couple was placed in a very delicate position and I think reaction is being unfairly misdirected at the Wessexes. If the Foreign Office works closely with the royals during their visits to foreign countries, it is this institution that had to have advised the couple what to do in this prickly situation. To have refused the gifts outright could have led to a diplomatic/political blunder that royals cannot become involved in. Sophie can only bury these items in the royal vaults for now and perhaps wear them sometime in the future and might even have them remodified from the original settings. I'm sure the royal vaults are full of questionable gifts given over time to past monarchs, and most likely this won't be the last.

Well it does give some MP's and former officials,most of whom the public have never heard of and likely never will again, the chance to get their names in the papers.

Ah, acid cynicism. How apropos this particular "storm in a teacup". The Government and in particular, the Foreign Minister, having been fully briefed by the Foreign Office, are well aware of the shape of such visits and the Queen did not send her son and duaghter-in-law on a private freebee. They were sent at the behest of the Goverment, probably to try to smooth over the embarassment caused by the withdrawal of the wedding invitation due to "human right's issues".

Quote:

Former Foreign Office Minister Denis MacShane said . . . . .

Would that be the squeaky clean and politically manipulative Labour MP who, totally aware of the way things are in the Foreign Office, is once again trying to gain some free political traction at the expense of honesty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiki

After the 2001 general election, he was made a junior minister at the Foreign Office with responsibility for the Balkans and Latin Ameririca. He caused some embarrassment to the government in 2002 by describing President Hugu Chavez of Venezuela as a 'ranting, populist demagogue' and compared him to Benito Mussolini during a failed military coup attempt to depose the democratically elected presiden. Afterwards, he had to make clear that, as minister with responsibility for Latin America, the government deplored the coup attempt.

Hmmm. Caning the Wessexes for accepting "inappropriate" gifts from a "Repressive" Government they were sent to visit on behalf of the British Government and yet he (personally) supported the attempted overthrow of a democratically elected government.

How very morally flexible of him. I suppose the free PR is just an added bonus? Raise his public and (more importantly) political profile. Check! Dump on the Monarchy in HM Diamond Jubillee Year to muddy the waters of his apparent flip flop. Check! Check!

Taking the Moral High Road. Yeah Right!

__________________MARG"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are assaults of thoughts on the unthinking." - JM Keynes

OK, the visit was arranged by the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office is well aware, or should be, of the type of gifts Arab rulers given to visiting members of the BRF so none of this should come as a surprise. If they saw the potential of receiving gifts as a problem they should quietly have advised the Bahranis that the couple would not be allowed to accept any gifts.
Sophie only has the right to use the jewels during her life and then they go into the Royal Collection which is essentially a national trust.
To refuse the gift would have been insulting to a nation that regardless of their internal problems is a friend and ally of the UK. There are problems in the gulf with Iran, so the UK needs to keep the friends it has.
This issue being drummed up by the DM is a storm in a tea cup.

I fully agree with you. If the Bahraini's are considered "kosher" enough to get a royal visit, then accepting a gift on behalf of the UK is absolutely fine, IMO. The decision to visit Bahrain or not by a member of the BRF is one that is taken by the UK government, and not the BRF themselves.

Look honestly these critics are petty and a pain as far as I am concerned. I really think these people who create a storm in teacup are pills ... imagine if she had refused and caused problems there if the protocol is give then she is in a no win situation and I think she should keep them.
I am soooo tired of petty lower class politicans and newspaper folk making these problems out of nothing ... I wish they would go away.IMO

One would assume that the Wessex's staff and Foreign office staff would be more astute as to problems when visiting foreign countries. Exchange of gifts between heads of states are one issue but for a royal so far removed from the throne to accept suites of jewelry during a short stop-over visit is perhaps not so easily justified.

Part of the problem when the RF receive or are offered gifts is that Royals tend to be around longer than Presidents/Prime Ministers/ Foreign Ministers so this means they have to look to the long term future. A president who may only be around for the next 2 years say can afford to refuse a gift as its fair to assume within 2 years relations with the country giving the gift won't have changed drastically however a Royal who may be around for a lifetime may well wish to refuse a gift from certain countries now but find that those countries are close allies again in a decade from now. If you look at Europe's relationships with middle-eastern countries over the past few decades you'll see how much they can change, refusing a gift now might turn out to be a big mistake/regret in the future.
Whilst I might personally have preferred Sophie not to accept the jewels I think really she had no choice, so the next best thing is to accept them, hide them away for sometime and make sure they go to the state collection.

Incidentally, the English newspapers [the 'better quality' ones certainly] mentioned that Edward was given the present of a silk rug at the same time. This seems to have 'slipped under the radar' to the extent that the politicians asking the Countess to return the jewels she was given have not made the same request in relation to her husband. [I am guessing that although the jewels would apparently have been more valuable, it is not beyond the reals of possibility that the rug was of significant value as well...]

It's really a 'no win situation'. If Sophie and Edward hadn't stopped off at Barhrain, then the 'gift problem' would not have arisen, but, as NGalitzine has mentioned, the West needs to make and keep as many friends as it can in the Middle East in view of the general volatility of the political situation.

Thanks for the images. It's such a bummer we can't see the images without the ISOPIX logos. Sophie, however, looks lovely and I love the updo. :) Nice to see Sarah Brown, Gordon Brown's wife. Apparently she and Sophie are good friends, and Lady Louise and Sarah's older son are friends.

__________________

"I am yours, you are mine, of that be sure. You are locked in my heart, the little key is lost and now you must stay there forever."

Written by Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine in the diary of her fiance, Tsarevich Nicholas.

Thanks for the images. It's such a bummer we can't see the images without the ISOPIX logos. Sophie, however, looks lovely and I love the updo. :) Nice to see Sarah Brown, Gordon Brown's wife. Apparently she and Sophie are good friends, and Lady Louise and Sarah's older son are friends.

Wonder if the children go to the same school, or know each other from their mothers being friends. As always, Sophie looks lovely.

__________________"My guiding principles in life are to be honest, genuine, thoughtful and caring".
~Prince William~

The State Department records or records of any other Foreign office/ministry are as accurate as the parties concerned want them to be.

Actually, any and all gifts to any governmental official with a value of $25.00 and above must be claimed. If not, you are in a lot of trouble. And by governmental official, this can be the President of the United States or a clerk typist who is a GS3 (for example).